Senate met on January 31, 2025. Here are the highlights:
Senate Welcomes President, Prof. Wisdom Tettey, and Six New Senators
The Senate welcomed Prof. Wisdom Tettey, Carleton’s new President and Vice-Chancellor, to his first meeting as Chair. President Tettey commenced the session with a brief introduction, expressing his anticipation for the collaborative work that will take place in the upcoming year.
Additionally, Senate ratified the appointments of four new faculty members and two undergraduate students, for service beginning immediately:
Faculty members
- Tim Haats – FED – Industrial Design
- Gabriel Maracle – FPGA
- Maya Papineau – FPGA
- Simon Viel – Science
Student Members
- Samantha Monastero – UG – FASS
- Ashley Paiva – UG – FASS
Senate Approves Suspension of Fall Convocation
Senate has approved the move to one Convocation per year, to be held in the Spring (June). This decision follows a comprehensive review of Convocation practices at other post-secondary institutions and takes into account the university’s current budget constraints. Consequently, Fall Convocation will be suspended starting Fall 2025 and until further notice.
Students graduating in the fall term will be invited to participate in the Spring Convocation in June.
Update on Fall Enrolment Report
Suzanne Blanchard, Vice-President (Students and Enrolment) and University Registrar, provided an update on Fall 2024 enrolment and undergraduate admission statistics. Overall domestic undergraduate enrolment remains stable, while new and returning domestic graduate enrolment shows strong increases. However, both undergraduate and graduate international enrolment has experienced a significant downturn due to the Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) cap on international study permits. This trend is expected to continue as the number of places available for international students in Ontario is projected to decline further in 2025.
Undergraduate and Graduate Major Modifications
Over 30 major modifications, streams, and minors were approved in an omnibus motion, effective Fall 2025. Highlights included the following:
- Introduction of BA Combined Honours in History with a Concentration in Public History
- Introduction of 6 new streams:
- International Business (Sprott School of Business)
- International Management (Sprott School of Business)
- Artificial Intelligence (B. Eng in Software)
- User Experience and User Interfaces (Bachelor of Computer Science Honours)
- Information Systems (Sprott School of Business)
- Marketing (Sprott School of Business)
- Introduction of 8 new minors:
- Information Systems
- Supply Chain Management
- Integrated Science
- Business (Finance)
- Cognitive Science
- Information Systems
- International Business
- Marketing
- Deletion of MA programs in Religion and Public Life
- Deletion of BSc in Computational Biochemistry
Quality Assurance & Cyclical Reviews
Senate approved the Final Assessment Report and Executive Summary arising from the Cyclical Review of the undergraduate and graduate programs in Political Science.
Senator Spotlight: Matthew Pearson
Assistant Professor Matthew Pearson joined the School of Journalism and Communication in 2020, following a 20-year journalism career that included a decade at the Ottawa Citizen, producing a feature radio documentary for CBC’s The Sunday Edition, and a stint as an associate producer with CBC Radio. During Pearson’s time as the 2017 Michener-Deacon Fellow for Journalism Education, he focused on teaching students how to cover traumatic incidents and report on people who have experienced trauma. This innovative work has continued during his time at Carleton, both in his teaching and research practices. He is a graduate of Carleton’s Master of Journalism program. Learn more about Matthew Pearson.